Returning home, Kenny Kemp raised the heavy garage door and began going through forty years of his father's accumulated materials and belongings. It was four months after his father's death from Lou Gehrig's disease.

As Kenny sorted and cleaned, a greater understanding of his loss slowly came to him. Symbols of his father's love, strength, and quiet courage emerged from old mayonnaise jars full of straightened nails; overstuffed, weathered workbench drawers; time-tested tools; and a versatile thirty-year-old piece of plywood. Precious relics, each telling in silent eloquence a story about the greatness of a man who had the gift to see something "new and useful inside something old and worn."

Beautifully written, this poignant remembrance provides a unique perspective on life's fleeting moments and disregarded details. Each chapter begins with one of his father's maxims, the "blueprints for a meaningful life." "Dad Was a Carpenter" is a remarkable book that asks us to think about all our relationships in a different way. It is a message that families everywhere will cherish for years to come.